Boy Scouts to host Great North Woods Gathering

In what is hoped will become an annual event, Troop 220 will host the inaugural Great North Woods BSA Gathering in Colebrook Village from Aug. 21-24, which will coincide with the region’s 23rd annual North Country Moose Festival.

The event will feature in-town camping and the opportunity to explore the diversity of recreational activities nearby in the world above the Notches.

The cost is $12 per Scout and pre-registration is required for the Gathering, which is open to all BSA troops on a first-come, first-served basis, said Jules Kennett, who is Troop 220’s Scoutmaster and is also the chairman of Colebrook’s board of selectmen.

“It is our hope,” Kennett said recently, “that by providing a ‘North Country landing zone’ to visiting Scouts that they will see the wonderful things happening in our region and will want to return and experience more of the beautiful area we call home.”

Kennett expects that the Gathering will attract between 300 and 500 Scouts, which he said is a manageable number, adding that based on what he and other organizers learn this year, the plan is to grow the event in 2015 and beyond.

“We just want to make this into an exciting event for all the Scouts,” said Kennett, who thanked Rick Nadig for providing the land in downtown Colebrook on the Mohawk River that will be used for the Gathering.

For more information or to register for the Great North Woods BSA Gathering, go to: colebrookscouting.blogspot.com.